Iran working on methods
to develop hybrid seeds

Extensive research is
underway to produce hybrid seeds as part of efforts to fight drought in the
country, the of head of Iran’s Seed and Plant Improvement Institute (SPII)
said.

Hybrid seeds are designed
to withstand drought and can help maintain high yield under water-limited
conditions, Mohammad Zamanian said in remarks on Monday.

“Currently, we are doing research on rapeseed and
will soon produce its hybrids,” he said.

In agriculture and
gardening, hybrid seed is produced by deliberately cross-pollinated plants
which are genetically diverse. Hybrid seed is common in industrial agriculture
and home gardening. It is one of the main contributors to the dramatic rise in
agricultural output during the last half of the 20th century. Alternatives to hybridization
include open pollination and clonal propagation.

Hybrid seeds are used to
improve the characteristics of the resulting plants, such as better yield,
greater uniformity, improved color, disease resistance.